VIDEO: Father of Aleppo boy Omran slams ‘exploitation’ of his son at UN briefing

Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Alexei Borodavkin stated “the famous symbol of Aleppo suffering” Omran Daqneesh was used in “shameless propaganda” by the Western media, at a press conference at the UN offices in Geneva, Wednesday.

Borodavkin noted that Daqneesh “was used by the Oscar-winning ‘White Helmets,’” who according to the Russian ambassador “exploited his picture in their shameless propaganda instead of providing him help.”

Father of Daqneesh, Mohammad Kheir Daqneesh, who also spoke at the press briefing from Aleppo via video conference, noted that he was “very surprised” that the press “arrived before the ambulance.”

He explained that press “started to take pictures of my son before medical aid was offered to my son. And they did not even ask my permission.” He noted that his son “had a minor injury, but they said that he was in a very severe condition. They started exploiting the image of my son and all children of Syria.”

The video of Daqneesh, the young boy who became a global symbol of war-torn Aleppo last August, drew international attention after it was widely circulated by the media last year. His older brother, Ali, died from injuries sustained in the attack.